Main ISIS mosque in Libya's Sirte recaptured

Main ISIS mosque in Libya's Sirte recaptured

Misrata-led forces captured on Sunday ISIS main mosque in Sirte after a massive offensive to terminate the radical group in its last hideouts in the city.

Backed by airstrikes, heavy artillery and tanks, the infantry advanced deep into residential district 3 and gained more grounds from ISIS including the key Cordoba Mosque, which was renamed to Abu Musab Zarqawi Mosque following last year's tribal uprising against the group.

Leading ISIS preachers, including Bahraini Turki Benali, used to give Jihad lessons to ISIS followers in this mosque.

In August 2015, locals of residential district 3, mainly from Furjan tribe, turned against ISIS and clashed with its militants for days after the killing of Cordoba mosque's Imam Khaled Furjani. The Furjan fighters positioned inside Cordoba Mosque and used rooftops of nearby buildings to shoot at ISIS militants, who finally managed to put down the uprising.

The arrested members of Furjan tribe were executed outside the mosque, which was a key symbol for the tribe.

2 days later, ISIS renamed the mosque to Abu Musab Zarqawi and forced local residents and Furjan tribe members to attended Jihad lessons.

On Sunday, Misrata-led forces said around 70% of residential district 3 and 80% of residential district 1 were retaken from ISIS. 38 Misrata-led fighters were killed and more than 185 others wounded in the offensive.